Business Safety: The Evils of Hackers

No matter how big or small your business is you are in danger of being hacked. Even if you run your business out of your garage and you don’t even get changed out of your pajamas before you start work, hackers will benefit if they hack into your computer or network.

You might think that your business is only just beginning and you have no money, so why would hackers approach you? Well, you might have a brilliant idea and they are not interested in your money, but they are interested in your intellectual property.

So, the day that you wake up and think, ‘I’m going to start a business,’ is also the day that you should get some software that will protect your computer, otherwise that day is going to be known as the day that you let hackers into your life.

Apple Mac

If you are lucky enough to have an Apple computer, then you are less at risk of being hacked, than if you have a Windows or Linux machine. This is because Apple computers haven’t really attracted the attention of the hackers.

Their price point is very high, so hackers think that more people would be able to afford a Windows computer. Therefore, all of their hacking software is aimed at Windows computers.

However, Apple computers are becoming more prevalent, so the hackers will turn their attention to them in the future. So, you will need to make sure you do have some Internet safety software on your Mac computer. You should make sure that there is a firewall present and look in the App store for some free virus software.

You could also go online and test your ports. There are websites that will test this for you for free, but if you don’t know what you are doing, then you should ask a professional IT support company. Leaving a port open is the equivalent of leaving a window open when you shut the office. Something will always get it, whether it is a fly (small Trojan) or a thief (massive virus).

Encryption

Even though you might be the only employee that you have, you need to make sure that your business files are encrypted. You could do this by locking the computer with a passcode, or you could put a lock on the actual files.

If you want to lock the actual files, then you should put them in a folder and put a lock on the folder, otherwise you will end up with thousands of passcodes and you are bound to forget them.

IT Support

If you are not sure what you are doing, you could always ask for the help of an IT and Support Company. This will not be free, you will have to pay them a wage, but they will help you with your security and they will fix any issues with your computers, if they break or there is a fault. This will reduce the loss of time online, and therefore, the loss of income.